Stefanovic: They cannot expel us from Kosovo
‘The crisis is over and we are heading towards dialog in Brussels. I believe we shall manage to solve the problem of the Customs seals although that issue has nothing to do with the issue of administration border crossings. That is our red line. We cannot allow that Pristina sets up its institutions in the north or that Serbia is expelled from Kosovo, Borislav Stefanovic, Chief of Belgrade negotiating team says for ‘Blic'.
(Blic) Thursday, August 11, 2011
Q: How do you think to solve the problem of the Customs seals once you are back at the negotiating table?
‘We shall see where that process is going to lead us. We shall certainly accept a solution acceptable for the UNMIK and which does not prejudice Kosovo's statehood or symbols of that statehood. Settlement of that problem shall solve the problem of trade and make it impossible for Pristina to continue with trade embargo. This is a fight that has to be won by head and not by heart'.
Q: How do you comment interruption of session of municipalities from the north of Kosovo?
‘That certainly was not good. Unity is crucial. Still that should not be dramatized because the agreement shall be implemented. Representatives of municipalities requested without our intervention to hold a session and decide about implementation of the agreement, not about the agreement itself. Now we see that was unnecessary and that barricades were started to be removed by decision of the crisis head quarters. This agreement is not ideal and Serbs from the north of Kosovo do not accept provision over limitation of goods trade up to 3.5 tons. However, that was the only way out to avoid attacks on Serbs, possible casualties, escalation of violence and Pristina's attempt to try again to set up its institutions'.
Q: Before reaching of the agreement you said there would be no dialog with Pristina unless situation was returned as it had been before July 25. Why that stance has been changed?
‘There has been no change of the stance, but that is a process. It is not simple to return everything to as it was before Jarinje had been set on fire and Brnjak taken over by the ROSU. We got us some time as well as guarantees by the international community that there shall be no new attempts by Pristina to unilaterally change situation in the field. We have not got everything we wanted. The agreement is not good because it limits goods trade to 3.5 tons, but it makes good trade possible. It prevented that Pristina sets up its institutions in the north. Serbs in the north of Kosovo have every right to be very cautious and not to trust. If anyone violates the agreement, barricades shall be returned. By this agreement Serbia has legitimized itself as a sovereign state in Kosovo since the agreement has been reached with Serbia and not with local bodies. It is now also more difficult for Pristina to violate the agreement since its guarantor is the international community while the KFOR is responsible for border crossings'.
Q: When agreement was reached Thaci ‘celebrated victory'?
‘That is his tactic. When he hits a wall he proclaims victory. Media in Pristina have already remarked that the situation at administration border crossings is not as he has presented it. I am sure that neither he nor anyone else will go into adventure as the one on July 25'.
